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The regional effects of professional sports franchises: Causal evidence from four European football leagues

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  • Brachert, Matthias

Abstract

We use the locational pattern of clubs in four major professional football leagues in Europe to test the causal effect of changes in premier league membership on regional employment and output growth at the NUTS 3 level. We rely on the relegation mode of the classical round-robin tournament in the European model of sport to develop a regression-discontinuity design. The results indicate small and significant negative short-term effects on regional employment and output in the sports-related economic sector when clubs are relegated from the premier division of the respective football league. In addition, we find small negative effects on overall regional employment growth. However, total regional gross value added remains unaffected, indicating that in the main it is the less productive jobs that disappear in the short-term.

Suggested Citation

  • Brachert, Matthias, 2018. "The regional effects of professional sports franchises: Causal evidence from four European football leagues," IWH Discussion Papers 10/2018, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:102018
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    3. Mona Foertsch & Felix Roesel, 2023. "Sports Clubs and Populism: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from German Cities," CESifo Working Paper Series 10259, CESifo.
    4. Barry Reilly & Robert Witt, 2021. "The Effect of League Design on Spectator Attendance: A Regression Discontinuity Design Approach," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(5), pages 514-545, June.
    5. G. A. Katin & A. A. Furenko, 2021. "Formation of a range of sports league services," Entrepreneur’s Guide, JSC “Publishing Agency “Science and Educationâ€, vol. 14(4).
    6. Wifo, 2023. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 7/2023," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 96(7), July.
    7. Matthias Firgo & Oliver Fritz, 2023. "Regionalwirtschaftliche und touristische Effekte von Sportgroßveranstaltungen," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 96(7), pages 481-490, July.

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    JEL classification:

    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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